may fray dunaway: two pernt five

MF turned two and half a few weeks ago and because i love birthdays i of course love half birthdays so celebrate we did. including the next morning for breakfast where we sang happy birthday and blew out the candle eight times. i love her joie de vivre.this girl. i've been so focused on all and i do mean allllll the things she can say that i wasn't paying attention to all the things she can do. like dress herself, run and jump, ride a tricycle, and oh you know, climb up a ladder with rungs that are really far apart by herself and go town a slide as tall as the empire state building.i don't know if it's because she's a big sister now and she seems ten years old to me, but the difference in two and two pernt five blew me away. she's a little person now and there's very little toddler left (ahem, other than the tantrums) and a whole lotta preschooler.i love every second with her whether we are playing catch, talking about her day, swinging at the park, eating dinner at her little table, or even those times when i'm explaining why we have to wear clean underwear everyday.there are so many cliches (sayings, perspectives, don't know if that's the right word but I'm tired so go with it) about parenting young children--the terrible twos, threes whatever; you've got your hands full; it will get easier...and honestly to me I hear "blah blah" or "yada yada yada" (HIMYM or Seinfeld anyone?) yes, parenting a toddler is hard, but most of the really good things in life are hard i will be forever learning, and it's a honor to be responsible for helping to shape this little girl's life. and oh the things she teaches me! this girl plays hard, moves fast, enjoys everything, and loves big...if those things are "terrible" then count me in.